The present invention relates generally to security cameras, including web cameras, and audio-video capture systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a networked camera system employing iSCSI target and initiator technology to allow the storage device to be located anywhere on the network, with frame buffers of the media player being mapped into iSCSI data blocks so that the frame buffer can be controlled directly from the camera.
With current security cameras, such as those used in surveillance systems and in internet-based web cam systems, the camera interface has proven to be a weak point. One common interface employs a USB (universal serial bus) connection between the camera and a host PC, with the PC then providing the connection to an IP (internet protocol) network. Another common interface employs an Ethernet connection between the camera and the host PC. In this embodiment the camera is provided with an Ethernet port capable of connection to an IP network using the TCP/IP protocol.
Such TCP/IP cameras come in two varieties, a hard wired variety designed to connect using Ethernet cabling and a wireless variety that uses a wireless communication technology such as 802.11x (WiFi). While somewhat more convenient than the USB-connected counterpart, these TCP/IP cameras are subject to possible attack. Each http port in the camera is open for attack from the internet or from a local intranet. Moreover, conventional cameras cannot directly write the captured image and video data to a remote disk. As a result, additional communication software needs to be developed to deliver the data to a remote site and then store that data onto suitable storage devices. Even when the camera is provided with local storage, such as flash memory or micro-disks, the camera still requires some access interface to support remote access to these files.